Call for Presentations

Metropolitan Archbishop William C. Skurla and the Council of Hierarchs of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan
Church of Pittsburgh will be hosting the 3rd assembly of our Church on Wednesday July 16th through Sunday
July 20th, 2025, at St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church, Whiting, Indiana. This gathering is a continuum of the synodal process that began in 2022. The Assembly will consist of two tracks. A clergy track will be presented from Wednesday evening July 16 through Friday morning through Friday, July 18th. A laity tract will take place from Friday afternoon July 18th to Sunday, July 20th.

Reviewing the feedback from the 2023 Assembly, the theme for the 2025 Assembly is “Come let us worship and bow before Christ.” The purpose of this gathering is to gain a deeper appreciation of the Byzantine Ruthenian Church’s Worship and spirituality in North America. Special emphasis will be given to worship, spirituality, chant and the arts. Through a combination of presentations, interviews and round table discussions,
participants in the Assembly will be able to hear from the rich source of wisdom that spans the generations regarding worship and prayer in the Metropolitan Church. From this vast wealth of experience, the second goal of the Assembly will hopefully be achieved: formulate a narrative of evangelization centered in worship and prayer that the attendees can carry home, incorporating this information into their daily lives and parish
communities. A third goal is to develop concrete steps to ensure the future and growth of our Church. 

In order to discover the practices utilized in our parishes throughout North America, the assembly committee seeks proposals from individuals or teams, clerical, religious and lay for presentations. The presentations may be based on personal experience or academic research. The ideal would be a combination of the two.

There are two primary areas for exploration:

Where Are We Now? These sessions explore the present conditions of our Church with regard to worship and spirituality, examining positive aspects and challenges, to development and growth over time. How have we grown, and how have we changed? How has the Byzantine experience been shaped or influenced by the American experience? Where we have developed, where have we fallen short, and what have we learned from
these experiences? The integration of worship, Evangelization and spirituality and the different approaches that individual parishes have taken for growth will be presented in this section. Present parish life in our communities will be explored by presenting best practices and success stories used as examples for other communities to utilize and possibly replicate. Best practices will be explored.

Where Should We Be Going? –These presentations will focus on what we should be doing as a Church regarding worship and spirituality. It is an opportunity to present a vision for the future. This is an opportunity to present the dream of the Byzantine Catholic Church moving forward regarding evangelization, worship and spirituality. What can be done that has not been done? The conclusion of this section will discuss the steps to utilize the fruits of this gathering to make the dream a reality.